Frederic Chopin only composed for piano, and his music is the most pianistic among all the great composers - absolutely specifically tailored around the instrument.
He also pioneered a new way of composing (at least, in his best works) in which all of the rest of the music was dedicated to "supporting" the melodic line, so it would have the maximum effect. The same applies to the tempo - which needs to be fluidly subordinated to the needs of the melody.
In Chopin's solo works, the pianist's left hand is usually "pushing" the musical-attention up towards the melody in the right hand; and much the same happens in the most successful parts of the piano concertos.
The method for playing Chopin is also very specialized; and although almost any decent pianist can play the notes in Chopin - to play his music well is a rare and difficult art for which many of the greatest pianists have been completely unsuited.
For instance, even thinking about a Bach-focused player such as Glenn Gould playing Chopin is painful (actually, Gould strongly disliked Chopin, which is just as well); but the same applies to many of those greats whose repertoire focuses on Beethoven and the Romantics. Someone like John Ogdon, for instance, had immense power, technical mastery, and architectural control - but was utterly unsuited to Chopin; not least because he was built like a bear.
The first great Chopin playing I heard was from Maurizio Pollini, and I've never heard better since. But I stumbled across this live video of Valentina Lisitsa playing a Nocturne which is as good as anything by anybody!
What is remarkable is to watch how she achieves the gorgeous results. Her hands seem about 50% longer than usual, each finger has a mind of its own, and it looks as if she has had the bones in her hands and arms replaced by rubber (rather like what magically happened to Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets).
Languid doesn't even begin to describe her playing - so laid-back she is almost horizontal; and she strokes the keys as if each was a small, delicate, furry animal.
This is, presumably, exactly what is need for exactly this music.
Anyway - prepare for that particular brand of total sensuous enjoyment which is utterly distinctive to Chopin.
No comments:
Post a Comment